The Fallen Vampire

Taira and Aveena must have sat with Abbot Tang for another hour before the monk finally decided to take his leave.

Truthfully, he was a bit embarrassed after spending so long chatting with the up and coming cultivators that he lost track of time.

Aveena offered to put the old man up for the night, but he insisted that he didn't want to be such a burden to them on their first meeting.

Secretly, Taira had a good impression of the monk already.

He could clearly tell that the monk wasn't a person who really knew how to lie or hide things.

Abbot Tang clearly wanted to ask a myriad of questions pertaining to their sect and how it functioned, but held them in out of fear of seeming rude.

But his eyes had a special sort of sparkle whenever he looked at something new. It made his interest impossible to hide.

And in all fairness, one could scarcely blame him for being curious.

This place was not only grander than any he had ever seen, but it was brimming with such rich, overflowing qi that his body felt cleaner now than it had in... ever, as a matter of fact.

Nonetheless, he left the Cult all the same.

Once Taira compelled him not to tell anyone else their location that is.

While it may not have been polite, but Taira had men, women, and children to keep safe.

And a room full of treasures that absolutely no one outside of the Cult should ever lay eyes on.

He wouldn't apologize for operating with the best interests of his people in mind.

With one matter ended, Taira and Aveena made their way upstairs to deal with another, more annoying one.

Even before they entered the room where all of the rucus was coming from, Yukiko ran up to Taira with something white and red dotting her fur.

"Aww. What's mommy's baby got all over her?" Aveena pouted as she kneeled down to pick up the young red panda.

Taira took a cautionary sniff and his suspicions were confirmed with a single.

"Red bean mochi..."

Taira and Aveena opened the door to the kitchen and figured out the reason why Taira's precious dessert was being decimated by an over-sized Leopold.

Capable warrior though he might've been, table manners were apparently not his forte.

"Ah." he paused once he saw the pairing enter. "Please, pardon my boorishness. These deserts were too exquisite to pass on."

"..." Taira suddenly felt that his family was desperately in need of a new rug by their fireplace.

Enyo suddenly floated upside down from the ceiling and gave her husband a small kiss on the cheek. "Don't pout, honey. I can always make more."

"...I'm not pouting."

"You were thinking that we needed a new rug, right?" Enyo smirked.

Taira said nothing, which made Leopold swallow and back away from the plate with literally one single mochi left on it.

"This is why when you welcome guests, you don't host them in your kitchen." Ayame said pointedly.

"You're hardly a guest. And even if you were, that would not excuse you coming by uninvited." Taira rolled his eyes.

"I said I was sorry for letting the monk in!"

"And what about him?"

"Leopold?"

Taira summoned Yasuke in the middle of the kitchen.

He stabbed the scythe into the shadow at Adam's feet.

"Son of a bitch!!"

Ja'Zaki crawled out of the shadow with a deep gash in his shoulder and a pissed off look on his face.

He didn't know what he was madder about. The fact that Taira could see him or the fact that he had cut him.

...It was probably the former if he were honest.

"What the fuck?! Are you too good for regular greetings now?"

"Do not sneak into my home again." Taira warned. "The next time you try, it will be your neck."

"You know, your lack of manners is starting to become- AAAGGHHH!!"

Ja'Zaki screamed out in vain when Ayame suddenly dug her thumb into his nearly-separated shoulder.

"What the fuck, elf!? I told you I would come to get him on my own without you breathing down my neck!" Ayame hissed.

"Yes, well you haven't exactly shown the best measure of judgment when it comes to him, so I refused to take any chances!" Ja'Zaki spat back.

"That's..!"

Ayame's speech trailed off as she caught another glance at Taira and the furry red panda who was draping herself over his shoulders.

"...Fuck you, I can think for myself just fine!"

"The stench of a dog in heat is downright nauseating."

"What'd you sayto me, tree fucker!?"

"That's a gross stereotype, you miserable bag of fur, and I'll have you tongue for it!"

"Umm..."

Both rulers suddenly looked at the timid Inadu as she twirled her fingers in the corner.

"W-Would you two mind not fighting so loudly in our family's home please..?"

""...Sorry, Ina.""

-

Vermeil patched Ja'Zaki's shoulder up as best she could and even gave him a few pills for the pain.

Afterwards, Taira, his wives, and Yukiko sat down with Ja'Zaki, Ayame, and Aja in a private room.

Leopold and his daughters were waiting outside. 'Standing guard' as if there was an actual need.

Since Taira had a feeling as to what this might've been about, he decided to cut through the fat ahead of time.

"I'm not accepting the position of Heavenly Demon. If you've come to bother me about it, you should spare yourself the time."

Vermeil fished out a small star out of her dress pocket.

Once she broke it in two, the former demon lord, Kyoen Tsuchigumo, appeared on the floor.

The red mark on his forehead disappeared and it suddenly looked like he had gained his first peaceful rest in weeks.

Inadu looked at her brother once with an expression that wasn't easily readable. But eventually, she turned her head back to the meeting at hand.

"I'll get him cleaned up, adjusted and send him back within a day." Taira continued. "I don't feel like doing any sort of paperwork, but I don't mind pulling a few strings from here.

Keeping his movements and actions coordinated, sharp, concise... the demons won't see any decline, I assure you. That should satisfy your tireless persistence, no?"

Ja'Zaki looked back and forth between Kyoen, Taira, each of his wives, Yukiko, Kyoen again, and then the other rulers.

"...I have a myriad of concerns, questions, and words that I would like to spew out right now, but I am going to holster it all, because it is not currently important, but make no mistake.

We will talk about exactly what kind of place you're building here, what you have done to it, and why a supposedly extinct race has popped up out of the blue under your banner, but for now I could honestly care less."

"I hope you hold onto that disposition. Because I can't imagine I will ever be so inclined as to voluntarily discuss my business with you."

Ja'Zaki looked like he was trying to stop himself from being angry, or risk the unfortunate re-opening of his wound.

"Enough." Ayame waived her hand dissuasively. "None of that matters as much as this."

Ayame placed down two scrolls on top of the wooden table.

Unsurprisingly, the one who noticed the symbol on the parchment first was in fact, Vermeil.

And really, it was no surprise why.

"These.. are from the human kingdom?"

Ayame nodded grimly.

"Invitations, wouldn't you believe it? For myself, Kyoen, and your husband. They'd like to see us exactly ten days from now."

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